High end vs internet

I can only imagine that dealers who offer poor service and unrealistic prices hate the internet. I have no sympathy for dealers who complain about the net, they weren't complaining when there was NO competition- its time to let all of there clients see why(or perhaps why not) they shop there, instead of whining and complaining perhaps they could rise to the occasion. It only seems logical that these online dealers are making a fair to high profit as well and they do seem to be thrieving, what does a local guy have to offer besides fair advice and high prices? Not only do the local shops near me sell at full retail, they are rude and ignorant, hmmmm let me see why my dealer lives across the country. Now that I think of it, its kind of scary that a dealer 3000 miles away can service his client better then some one who is 13 miles away! When all else fails the old saying goes- if you can't beat them, join 'em! The times they are a changin'

I liked Tireguy's answer. This could be a touchy subject.

In my experience, more dealers know less about this whole field than 85% of the members here at Audiogon. I will, and have, paid full retail if the dealer can provide the level of service and support required with the given product. In my experience, which is short by comparison but I have had enough with stupid people, it seems that the dealers do not have the knowledge level to justify the increase in price.

If the service isn't their, why pay the price. Find the cheapest price on the net and either work through the issues yourself or ask here on Audiogon.

If I work with a local dealer, i.e. demos ect, I will buy from them. The basic trade offs are buying blind from the net which can burn, or an increase in price for the touch and feel factor. With audio it is very risky buying site un heard.

The dealer need to quit complaining and change his/her business model to accept the current reality of life.

That said I have found some dealers here that I would love to deal with.

Marty

I went to a HiFi shop about an hour from where I live to listen to a pair of $11,500 Talon Peregrine X speakers. After waiting for at least a half hour to be helped by the only person in the store who knew anything about the speakers I was brought upstairs to the "good equipment" room. The workers unboxed a brand new pair of Chorus mono blocks and plugged them in. The speakers were about 12 feet apart with a pair of martin Logan speakers in between them. I sat in the sweetspot on a sofa about 12 inches too short for the speakers and listened to the salesman tell me how he designed or helped design virtually every piece of equipment on the market today. We also told me how he goes to CES and sets up every turntable in all the rooms. Later he explained to me how my pre-amp was no good because it is not a tube pre-amp.
To his credit he offered to let me take the speakers home and listen to them. I didn't do it because by this point I knew I would not be buying from him.
I did get to listen for a few minutes and the speakers sounded good, but what could I really tell? Between the bad setup and the new mono blocks I certainly wasn't getting an accurtate portrayal of what these speakers could do.
He quoted me a price of $8000 on the speakers that have been sitting on his showroom floor for over a year.
With service like this why would I want to go on the net to buy equipment!?!
They have nice stuff in theis store but I don't plan to buy anything. I got enough gas from this salesman to drive back home!

Manufacturers like to give dealers "territory". Problem is...I have a computer, a car and absolutely no respect for price fixing schemes of this nature. Without considering mail order sales, ceteris parabis, price is first, service is second and all other considerations are third. If you give me a price we are BOTH happy with and minimal, but adequate service I MUST give you consideration. Geography is not in the top two. Manufacturers and dealers CAN NOT really give territory. St. Louis, Nashville, Cincy, Lexington, Memphis, Columbus, Chicago and Indianapolis are all within a few hours drive from me. My Louisville dealers MUST consider competing in all those markets. It is a GLOBAL market in home electronics partly because of the added knowledge the Internet can bring to our economic decisions...therefore you (dealers) gotta try to compete with everyone. If you are a dealer and you are not moving enough product or the margin is insufficient to justify the demo unit, good service and demo space...drop the line! Fewer dealers doing what needs to be done is better than too many dealers doing too little AND going broke too.